What I'm Reading (May 2016)

When I am not with clients, I love to read. I have always loved reading, really.  To say that reading is a great "coping skill" is really minimizing a beautiful experience, adventure, world, escape..... Anyway, I thought starting a little "what I"m reading" series on this blog would be a good way for you to get to know me, a way for me to write about what I"m reading, and maybe a way for you to find some good book recommendations. See what I am reading, after the jump!
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Stepmonster: A New Look at Why Real Stepmothers Think, Feel, and Act the Way We Do 
by Wednesday Martin Ph.D.

​May the universe help me:  before I have even experienced raising a child, I have become stepmother to two teenagers. Not only that, but I love and care about both of them more then I could have imagined (this of course, is the hard part). So I started reading this book as a resource for myself and my clients. It is great in that Wednesday Martin really validates the experience of stepmother and normalizes the "feelings we are not supposed to have" a stepmom, but I am waiting for her tone to get a bit more optimistic.... That being said, still a good read and insight into the experience. A great reminder that we are not wicked stepmothers. 

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi 
​I just started reading this one over the weekend.  Paul Kalanithi was a neurosurgeon who wrote this book after learning he had terminal cancer. This book is beautiful and moving. It is all about life and death, how we can not live without death (no matter how hard we all try to avoid and deny it). This book is likely going to break my heart. I am so thankful to Mr. Kalanithi for sharing his experience.

Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthoodby Lisa Damour
This one just arrived. I am hoping it will be a great resource to parents and for me, working with teenagers. I decided to specialize in working with teenage girls long before I became a therapist. I am always open and excited about new insights.

The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney 
The book I just finished. So funny, so smart, and a great escape into characters. I would recommend this book for anyone with a dysfunctional family (all of us. Really , we need a new term for that).  This book reminds me of the following fantastic music video. I find myself watching this every Thanksgiving time, something about the family vibes.: